The Boston Bruins are in the midst of their playoff run, with a game seven on tap against the Toronto Maple Leafs following a game six loss. While the attention is deservedly on them, the teams of the AHL are vying for the Calder Cup and teams in the ECHL are in pursuit of the Kelly Cup in their playoffs.
Both affiliates of the Boston Bruins got into the playoffs in the AHL and ECHL, with the Providence Bruins and Maine Mariners trying to win the Cup in their respective leagues. How are their playoff runs going?
Since there's more going on in Maine, we'll start there. Playing the Adirondack Thunder in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs, the Mariners fell short in seven games, ending their season early. The series started off well for the Mariners, winning game one by a 2-1 score on goals from Adam Mechura and Wyllum Deveaux. Brad Arvanitis made 35 saves in the win.
Game two didn't go Maine's way on the road, losing in shutout fashion by a 2-0 score, with both Adirondack goals coming in the first period, including one power play goal. Coming home for the next three games, Maine won game three 4-1 with Arvanitis shining in net with a 28 save performance.
The next two games on home ice didn't go well for the Mariners. With Maine entering the third period of game four ahead 3-1, they proceeded to give up four goals to the Thunder that resulted in a 5-3 loss. Game five was all Thunder as they put Maine in a 3-2 series deficit with a 3-0 shutout win.
Needing to win game six on the road to stay alive, Maine did so with a 2-1 win as Ethan Ritchie and Owen Pederson providing the goals and Arvanitis making 27 saves. Game seven saw the Mariners get shut out for the third time in the series, seeing their season end with a 2-0 defeat as Arvanitis was outdueled by Isaac Poulter.
Thanks to a second-place finish in the AHL's Atlantic Division with a 42-21-6-3 record and 93 points, the Providence Bruins earned a first-round bye in the Calder Cup playoffs. The second round gave them a matchup with the New York Rangers AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The P-Bruins enter game two of the series in a 1-0 deficit following a game one loss on home ice. The Wolf Pack prevailed 4-3 in game one, surviving a two-goal game from Jimmy Lambert and another goal from Patrick Brown to come out on top.
Brandon Bussi started in goal for the P-Bruins as the big club had Michael DiPietro with them in Toronto as the emergency goalie. Bussi stopped 23 of the 27 shots he faced, being outdueled in net by Hartford's Dylan Garand, who had 32 saves on 35 shots.
While the Mariners' season is over, Providence's playoff run is just beginning, with game two set for May 3 in Providence before the teams hit the road to Hartford.